It’s not clear how advanced the talks are, but the fit is obvious: The Red Sox have the ability to take on payroll after unloading roughly $250 million in contracts three months ago, and the Indians are willing to listen to offers for virtually every player on their roster.

Boston’s farm system has strengthened over the past 12 months, partially because of prospects obtained from the Dodgers in the August blockbuster. Thus, the Red Sox can afford to move the necessary minor leaguers to bring back Masterson, Choo, or both.

An intriguing dynamic could develop if the Masterson talks intensify: He broke into the majors with the Red Sox in 2008, when Terry Francona was the Boston manager and John Farrell the Boston pitching coach. Last month, Francona was hired to manage the Indians while Farrell became the new skipper in Boston. Both are said to admire Masterson. If Farrell pushes for the Red Sox to acquire him, Francona might try just as hard to keep him in Cleveland.

Choo, meanwhile, would add immediate punch to a Boston outfield that presently includes center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and a collection of platoon players. The Red Sox would be more enthused about Choo if he had more than one year left before free agency, but their newfound payroll flexibility could make it more feasible to keep him after 2013.

Choo, like Ellsbury, is represented by influential agent Scott Boras. Ellsbury also is headed for free agency after the coming season.

Boston’s search for a new manager may not be the last big hire of the Hot Stove season.

New Astros owner Jim Crane held two news conferences Thursday, after the ownership transfer from Drayton McLane was approved by Major League Baseball. At no point did Crane offer assurances that general manager Ed Wade and manager Brad Mills will return in those roles for the 2012 season.

Both Wade and Mills have the financial security of contracts that run through 2012. (The Astros hold a club option on Mills for 2013, as well.) But Crane told the Houston Chronicle that he and his partners are “going to get to work” on changes to the team’s baseball operations.

The money and keys officially change hands on Tuesday. At that point, Crane plans to begin a review of the franchise’s baseball and business operations. One source indicated that Crane will decide before the winter meetings (held Dec. 5-8 in Dallas) whether he intends to keep Wade and Mills.

The Astros, coming off the worst season in franchise history, aren’t expected to make many big-dollar moves this offseason. But Crane may want to have his long-term GM and manager in place, to evaluate the current players and shape the organization’s culture moving forward. The Astros will move from the National League to the American League for the 2013 season.

Crane wants to rebuild the Astros from within, so he could seek executives who have had success with some of baseball’s best “homegrown” clubs: Andrew Friedman or Gerry Hunsicker with the Rays; Thad Levine or A.J. Preller with the Rangers; or Dan Jennings with the Marlins. (Jennings, who has a contract through 2015 in Miami, was denied permission to interview for the Orioles’ GM vacancy by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.)

Hunsicker, currently the Rays’ senior vice president of baseball operations, was the Houston GM from 1996 through 2004. The club reached the postseason in five of his nine seasons.

If the Astros fire Mills, he will join his close friend Terry Francona among the ranks of managerial free agents. Mills was Francona’s trusted bench coach with the Red Sox from 2004 through 2009, and Boston won two world titles in that span. If Francona and Mills are out of work at the same time, they will loom as a popular tandem to be brought in the next time a major-league manager is fired.

The White Sox do not plan to shift course in their managerial search now that Terry Francona has left the Red Sox, according to a major-league source with knowledge of the team’s thinking.

General manager Ken Williams continues to work off his short list, the source said. Rays bench coach Dave Martinez, according to a second source, is at the top of that list. Martinez, a former outfielder, played for the White Sox from 1995 to '97.

The White Sox also like Yankees bench coach Tony Pena, but Martinez is their No. 1 target, the second source said. Both Martinez and Pena currently are unavailable; their respective teams are in the post-season.

Williams has said he has a preferred candidate to replace Ozzie Guillen, whom the White Sox traded to the Marlins for two minor leagues. Williams said he could name a new manager before the start of the World Series.